Hence my position that this is not the most interesting question at hand. The most relatable, perhaps, but far from the most puzzling. You shared a yarn related to misinterpreting lights in this thread, I shared one (or at least I suggested its existence) in this post, and there are several more in this thread. I think everyone who stood a night watch will be able to relate.
Where it does get a bit weird is with the OOW noticing the changing relative bearing without looking further into it. If nothing else, it underlines that he’d completely forgotten what he was supposed to do.
My outrage, driven by a considerable sense of shame, is directed squarely at the OOW and the VTS operator, who dropped their respective balls and watched them roll away with a shrug.
Well now. Back in the pre-ECDIS days I made good use of known safe bearings. For example, I’d make a mental note of the bearing to a known reference point (say a light) that put me clear of whatever rocks, and kept checking until I saw the magic number, whereupon I could make my turn without worry. I guess this stops making sense once you follow a formal passage plan, and in any case it is a digression best left for a thread on the finer points of visual navigation.